Trouble in Armadillo Acres

It’s a hoot, “The Great American Trailer Park Musical,” perfectly in keeping with New Milford’s adventurous TheatreWorks. But it’s risky. Risky because a play about the residents of Armadillo Acres trailer park in northern Florida could look exploitive, like those TV shows that nudge frail people into telling us how base and absurd they can be. But no. These people are impudent, self-assured, and troubled. Seventeen-year-old Pickles (Abby Nissenbaum), who runs the flan stand and breaks out into Valley Girl talk, now and then, is in a perpetual state of hysterical pregnancy; Linoleum (Beth Harvison), Lin for short, so named because she was born on the kitchen floor, is determined to do whatever necessary to keep her mate out of the electric chair; and Betty (Elyse Jasensky), the park manager whose husband died and left her the keys to the trailer park, wears tights covered in studs and keeps everything in fairly good order. Somehow, they all come off kind of tough; kind of dear. What is frail is the plot. And the songs. They all sound alike. But no matter. The characters, many outfitted spectacularly in gold lamé, leather boots, and partially concealed weapons, can sing, tell a joke and make us sorry we don’t know them. Tracy Hurd is Jeannie, the agoraphobic housewife who has kept to her trailer for the last 20 years; Justin Boudreau as Duke, who sniffs magic markers and sports a handgun named Belinda, takes over every time he comes on stage. And Michael Wright as the shield wearing toll taker who falls for Pippi (Deanna Chorman), the dancer, is the big, sad fellow who wants his trailer-bound wife to go to the Ice Capades with him for their 20th wedding anniversary. It’s just one punch line after another, but the actors are having a great time. And that seems good enough. The “Great American Trailer Park Musical” runs at TheatreWorks in New Milford through June 19. Tickets: call 860-350-6863 or www.theatreworks.us.

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Club baseball at Fuessenich Park

Travel league baseball came to Torrington Thursday, June 26, when the Berkshire Bears Select Team played the Connecticut Moose 18U squad. The Moose won 6-4 in a back-and-forth game. Two players on the Bears play varsity ball at Housatonic Valley Regional High School: shortstop Anthony Foley and first baseman Wes Allyn. Foley went 1-for-3 at bat with an RBI in the game at Fuessenich Park.

 

  Anthony Foley, rising senior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, went 1-for-3 at bat for the Bears June 26.Photo by Riley Klein 

 
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

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Cycling season: A roundup of our region’s rentals and where to ride them

Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

Alec Linden

After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit lakevillejournal.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

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